Shutting up the Kingdom of Heaven

Matthew 23.13

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”

Matthew 23.13

Things of the Scribes and Pharisees that turned people

away

Their Lip Service Religion

"The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. "Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.

Matthew 23.1-3

And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'"

Matthew 15.9

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

Matthew 7.21

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

1 John 3.18

Their Lack of Self-Application

"For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

Matthew 23.4

You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?

Romans 2.21

You who say “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

Romans 2.22

You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For "the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you," as it is written.

Romans 2.23-24

Their “Public Relations Religion”

Matthew 23.5-12Matthew 23.25-28

Their Hair Splitting Loopholes

Verses 16-22

"But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God";

Matthew 15.5

Their Selective Obedience

Verses 23-24

The Door to the Kingdom of Heaven is Open

Don’t refuse to go in, and don’t stand in the way of those who

would enter

The Way into the Kingdom is Christ

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father

except through Me.

John 14.6

The Way into the Kingdom is Christ

…repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Luke 24.47

The Way into the Kingdom is Christ

"Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.

Matt. 10.32

The Way into the Kingdom is Christ

"He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

Mark 16.16